I'd be curious to know just what was his involvement in BR, since he was listed as (uncredited) co-producer on IMDB.
Not a word about BR in the obit you posted - maybe he pissed them off because of this…

Quote:

Against the wishes of its director, Ridley Scott, and its star, Harrison Ford, Yorkin insisted that the ending of the film Blade Runner, which he co-produced, be altered and that Ford return after the completion of filming to record a voice-over track in post production. The "happy ending" which resulted incorporated footage from the Stanley Kubrick film The Shining. Scott later released the film on video without the voice-over or altered ending

Honestly, the original ending never bothered me and certainly wasn't worth the brouhaha it created after-the-fact.

Bud Yorkin was a great producer/director of 70s TV shows, and even directed some great comedies and dramas from the decades before as well. A lot of the best shows he had a part in (especially All in the Family and Sanford and Son), and he was very successful at it. His involvement in Blade Runner was almost nil until the end. He and Jerry Perenchio where completion gauranters to put up the additional money to make sure the film got finished and released. In exchange they got almost all the rights to the film, as well as creative control once it went over budget. Neither him nor Jerry understood Ridley's artistic vision on the film, but Bud really wanted to direct it himself, and he hired the guy who wrote/rewrote the voice over narration. The happy ending was kind of a committee decision, and was based on some of the script ideas that already existed. The committee included Bud, Jerry and a few others including Alan Ladd Jr., that were part of the original partnership before it was just Bud and Jerry. In the end it seems Jerry liked the film, and Bud hated it. Neither made their money back until decades later. Regardless of our feelings with Bud, he is an Icon for his genius with gritty politically charged TV comedy. Who knows what the film would have been if he was more involved from the beginning, it may have had a laugh track. Regardless, the guy was a genius in his own right, and his money saved BR from being a film that never was finished or saw the light of day. May he rest in peace.